Good morning…
To understand more fully the inner workings of authentic prayer, let’s join Jesus in Matthew 26:36-46 (AMP). Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane (olive-press), and He told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and stay awake and keep watch with Me.” And after going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible [that is, consistent with Your will], let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words once more. Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Listen, the hour [of My sacrifice] is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners [whose way and nature is to oppose God]. Get up, let us go. Look, My betrayer is near!”
What does Jesus do when he is facing a painful gap between his own personal desires and the unfolding will of God?
1) He relies on his friends. He spends time with his twelve best buddies, then he seeks additional support from his three closest friends. With his safe inner circle, he shares honestly, transparently his great grief and distress. He says, “My soul hurts. I am dying with sorrow. Please stay near me, keeping watch.”
2) Then falling alone at his Father’s feet, Jesus shares his deepest feelings, “I hate suffering. I am in extreme pain. I know You have the power to change my situation, please take away this cup that is killing me.”
3) After he pours out every last drop of his own personal desire, Jesus surrenders completely to God, “…yet not as I will, but as You will.”
4) As Jesus struggles to accept his painful circumstances, he returns to a deep state of prayer repeatedly, again and again, until he is empowered to exchange his own will for the will of the LORD.
5) Jesus gets up from his anguishing prayer time willing to sacrifice his whole self into God’s higher calling.
Fighting our human tendency to fall asleep, may we actively watch and pray, submitting our will to God’s will day after day,
Sue
